(NaturalNews) An ongoing bird flu outbreak that has devastated the U.S. poultry and egg industries seems to be leaving backyard chicken farms mostly untouched in what experts are calling an epidemiological mystery. Bird flu is a highly lethal strain of influenza that can kill a bird or human within days. Fortunately, the disease is not…

Dredging has been on-going now for almost 5 weeks (begun on 29th April 2015), with all dredging to date concentrated in the area between Site 1 and Site 2 near the northern end of Tegako islet. Monitoring of corals has been carried out since 21st April (almost 6 weeks). The coral watch results for the…

The Tuvalu Borrow Pits Rehabilitation Project, funded by New Zealand, aims to improve the living standards of communities living in Funafuti by filling in up to 10 borrow pits located on Funafuti Atoll and improving water and sanitation services. The project also aims to improve the Island’s resilience to the impacts of climate change such…

Atolls just aren’t like large continental countries where engineering grew up. We need a new set of engineering solutions specifically for the unique conditions on atolls. Atoll Engineering should build our resilience, reversing the broad-scale damage the ‘old engineering’ has caused in the past. And we need it now – the islands have run out…

In 2013 we produced a short (18 minute) video designed to introduce the idea of building core resilience for heavily urbanised atoll islands in general, and for Funafuti in particular. As noted on the Environmental Vulnerability Index (EVI) site the natural environment is unequivocally the life support system for all human endeavours. Far from being…

This is the first of a series of coral monitoring reports we will send around to keep track of indicators of coral stress during the dredging works. The measurements are being taken by Paeniu Lopati and Filipo Makolo of the Fisheries Department using the Coral Watch methodology. The aim is to use corals as sensitive…

The Australian Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) has now officially declared the arrival of El Niño 2015. And its expected to be a significant event. The last El Nino five years ago had a major impact with monsoons in Southeast Asia, droughts in southern Australia, the Philippines and Ecuador, blizzards in the United States, heatwaves in…

190 scientists from 38 nations have submitted the International EMF Scientist Appeal to the United Nations, UN member states and the World Health Organization (WHO) requesting they adopt more protective exposure guidelines for electromagnetic fields (EMF) and wireless technology in the face of increasing evidence of risk from this rapidly increasing environmental pollutant. The scientists…

While alcohol consumption has been decreasing in wealthy, developed countries over the past 20 or so years (down 2.5%), this has masked a worldwide increase in dangerous binge drinking in youth and women. Harmful alcohol use is a major factor in non-communicable diseases, early and accidental death and disability, and can affect brain function for…

Researchers in the Netherlands have invented a bacteria-infused concrete that is able to patch up its own cracks. Even such a solid material as concrete is prone to cracking, which inevitably leads to structural degradation and thus limits the service life of constructions. Now, two researchers at Delft Technical University have found an innovative solution…

Historical Patterns, The 1930s Dust Bowl Drought A scientific paper published last month in the journal Climate Dynamics by a scientist from NOAA’s National Climatic Data Center and three universities found that the 1930s drought was exacerbated by an anomalous warm spots in the ocean: Unusually hot summer conditions occurred during the 1930s over the…

Up until recently, Funafuti, Tuvalu’s capital, had 33 small islets located around its atoll rim. One was removed in 1997. This year Cyclone Pam completely removed another islet and severely battered several others. Life for Funafuti’s islets seems pretty tough. In 1992, McLean & Hosking recorded 33 islets spread around Funafuti’s atoll rim. The figure…

As noted in the featured video, there are currently five different artificial sweeteners on the market. The one you’re most likely to encounter is aspartame, which also tends to be the worst of the bunch. “Sweetener lesson 101: Avoid artificial sweeteners like the plague. While the mechanisms of harm may differ, they’re all harmful in…

Genetically modified (GM) crops are going to feed the world. Not only that, supporters of GM technology say it will produce better yields than non-GM crops, increase farmers’ incomes, lead to less chemical inputs, be better suited to climatic changes, is safe for human consumption and will save the lives of millions. Sections of the…

By inexpensively turning salt water into drinking water using sustainable solar power, a team from MIT in the US has not only come up with a portable desalination system for use anywhere in the world that needs it, but it’s just won the 2015 Desal Prize – a competition run by USAID to encourage better…

When we imported our last lot of eggs from Australia to establish a few egg-layer breeds in Tuvalu as part of the Six Chix Project we set to incubating the eggs, fingers crossed. The eggs were from Poultry Australia who were amazing with helping us meet the biosecurity requirements. That batch of 12 beautiful blue…

In 2013 the United Nations released a report indicating that the world’s food needs could be met through organic, local farms. The United Nations report stated that food security, poverty, gender inequality, and climate change can be addressed with a significant shift towards organic, localized farming. In contrast with industrialized farming, organic and local farms…

What started as the discovery of an unknown disease in Guam has spread to a line of ominous findings about some of our most debilitating conditions and potential toxins lurking in bodies of water around the world. Elijah Stommel, a neurologist at the Dartmouth-Hitchcock medical center in New Hampshire, often has to deliver bad news…

Permaculture creates living systems using cooperation with nature. Using its designs and principles we can create beautiful, practical, self-sustaining urban or rural environments. Using the diversity, stability and resilience of natural ecosystems, people can create real solutions – and put back more than they take from the Earth. Bill Mollison, the pioneer of Permaculture, provides…